3.17.2014

I've just returned home after a week in the nation's capital, where I was guiding a group of 17 students on a field trip. We did a lot of walking, museum visits, and stopped by a few architecture offices. The day prior to the start of our touring, I did a quick sketch of Dupont Circle ... one of my favorite places in the city. Long ago, when I lived in DC for about five years, I worked in this part of town. So Dupont was a regular lunch spot for me on nice days. The central fountain was designed and sculpted by the same two people who did the Lincoln Memorial - Architect Henry Bacon and Sculptor Daniel Chester French - and was completed in 1920.

When we had finished our touring, I had a free day to myself, so I got down to the Mall and took on a few more substantial subjects. The wind made sketching a bit of a challenge - I was working in a Moleskine A4 book, and did my best to secure the pages with rubber bands while I was trying to paint ... but it was tricky, and I probably gave up a little earlier on these than I would have on a calm day. The first is the Washington Monument, followed by the Tidal Basin with the Jefferson Memorial on the right, and finally the Lincoln Memorial.

I teach architecture at the University of Idaho - design studios, architectural graphics courses, and a professional practice course. One of my passions outside of teaching ... and music, and plants, and mycology, and ... is observing and understanding the world through sketching with various media, such as pencil, pen, charcoal and watercolor. Passing along the same skill and interest to students is a goal I've pursued through my teaching here in Moscow, Idaho, and through an 8-week study-abroad program in Rome each summer.